By John B Monteiro

Mangaluru, Aug 8: According to the lead editorial in The Times of India dated August 6, 2016, the Uttarakhand government has launched a search for the legendary healing plant as reflected in the following excerpts from this "Just in Jest" edit.

"Could today’s Uttarakhand sarkar have helped Hanuman? The monkey god, the wise and fearless follower of Rama, was in a quandary. Rama had sent him on a mission of literally life-and-death urgency: to find the famed sanjeevani booti, the magical plant that was a cure for all ills. It was to be found on the Dronagiri mountain and was needed to restore to health the gravely injured Lakshmana, wounded in the battle with Ravana in Lanka.

For all his sagacity, Hanuman could not identify what he was looking for, so he uprooted the mountain in its entirety and took it to Rama. However, were the monkey god to be sent on a similar quest today he would be aided and assisted by the official power of the Uttarakhand government and might not have to resort to such a display of force majeure in his search for the wondrous plant.

Convinced that the all-healing herb mentioned in the Ramayana is not just a figment of mythological imagination but does actually exist, the state government is reportedly deploying whatever scientific manpower it can muster in an exhaustive search for the elusive sanjeevani booti”.

Now the background.

The medical and pharmaceutical world is always out to better things through, for instant, by the introduction of Viagra and its imitators to rouse, increase and sustain human libido. There are others who offer to lengthen and strengthen male sexual organ despite doctors assuring: “Never mind the length of the barrel but the strength of the bullets”. The ultimate search, of course, is to forestall death itself by pushing back the frontiers of death through pills and potions. As of now the end of old age, as had been well described by Thomas Hood, English poet and humorist (1798-1843) is :

When he’s forsaken,
Withered and shaken,
What can an old man do but die?

Plenty, if Hood had reckoned with Indian mythologies, specially Ramayana, wherein Sanjeevani, the mythical life-restoring herb from north Indian mountain ranges, had revived the dying Lakshmana, brother of Lord Rama. But, first the Ramayana account:

According to Ramayana, the herb called Sanjeevani Booti is capable of curing any woe irrespective of its type and origin. It is mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana that during the war between Rama and Ravana, Inderjit, eldest son of Ravana, sent a powerful poison-coated weapon towards Lakshmana who was badly wounded and fell unconscious. Ayurvedacharyas (Ayurvedic Physicians) found that the wound had gone deep enough to kill him. Hanuman was called to fetch Sanjeevani Booty from the Mount Sumeru in the Himalayas. Upon reaching the mountain, Hanuman failed to identify the magical herb and carried the entire mountain to the battlefield. Within a few minutes of smelling this life saving medicinal herb, Lakshmana gained consciousness and vigour to fight in the war.

Here is the relevant quote from Valmiki Ramayana (Yuddh kand 74):When Hanuman saluted..., Lankan Royal Physician Sushena mentioned, “On the Himalayas, between Kailas and Rishabh mountain there lies a mountain of life giving herbs. The herbs are of four categories: mritsanjivani, vishalyakarni, suvarnkarni, and sandhani. They always emit light. You have to come with those herbs at the earliest.” (Each one of these had a specific role in healing).

Incidentally, Sanjeevani in Sanskrit means immortal, infinite life, life-giving and one that infuses life.

Now there is a renewed interest in discovering this elusive herb as reported in The Telegraph, London, by Andrew Marszal from New Delhi and published in the paper on March 4, 2016. First, the crux of his report.

"An Indian state has stepped up its search for a mythological herb famous for its power to resurrect people from the dead. Officials from Uttarakhand believe that Sanjeevani Booti, a plant used by the monkey god Hanuman to bring Lakshmana back to life in the ancient text Ramayana, may lie hidden among the hundreds of indigenous herbs of the Himalayas. Quoting Hindustan Times, the Telegraph report says: “We strongly believe that the herb exists in Chamoli area of Uttarakhand, but we need funds and expertise to carry our research,” Surendra Singh Negi, the state’s minister for alternative medicine, told the Delhi newspaper. He said a formal application for resources to help hunt for the elusive herb would be sent to the central government shortly."

Apparently, things have progressed as reflected in the Times editorial cited above.

The search for Sanjeevani, which ancient texts say is found in a remote mountainous location, has fascinated Indian botanists for centuries. While many medicines already offered by practitioners of the 5,000-year-old discipline of Ayurveda use the name Sanjeevani, none exactly match the ancient texts’ descriptions of the plant, which some texts claim can glow in the dark.

Tests are being conducted at India’s National Botanical Research Institute on Selaginella Bryopteris, a plant traditionally used medicinally during extreme heat and to treat conditions such as jaundice. Among others, the plant is used for centuries for several human health problems, particularly by tribal people. Traditional uses include relief from heat stroke, irregular menstruation, jaundice, unconsciousness, cerebral disorders, respiratory problems and bodily pain (including in child-birth). Its ability to lie “dead” for months in time of drought before springing back to bright-green life has led many to connect it to the mythical Sanjeevani. However, the tribal people, villagers and ascetics having knowledge of Himalayan traditions never revealed to outsiders about these healing plants with the fear of over-exploitation and extinction.

In 2014, scientists in Kashmir claimed that a “wonder herb” called Rhodiola had unique medicinal properties that could help soldiers, such as those deployed on Siachan glaciers, adapt to the hostile, low oxygen environment, again prompting many to speculate that the quest for Sanjeevani had ended. But focus on the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand increased after a team backed by Swami Ramdev, yoga guru, claimed to have spotted the plant in 2008.

It would be seen that interest in Sanjeevani and research for it is confined to north India – hills in Joshimath, Garhwal, Arawali mountains, Kashmir and Ladakh at altitudes of 15,000 ft plus.

In the quest for the elusive healer, south India is completely neglected except for a mention that the plant has been sighted near Vadakunathan Temple, Trissur, Kerala. Since Kerala has a strong tradition of Ayurvdic medicine, it is only apt that South India is brought into the picture in the search for Sanjeevani.

Tulu Nadu, mainly comprising the districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi also have deep-rooted Ayurvedic traditions. And I can only contribute my little bit to the subject by relating an oral history bit on the subject.

There is one oral cobra lore in Tulu Nadu that was related to me by an illiterate farm worker which, I believe, is not in the public domain and I would like to record it for posterity. A toddy tapper saw a fight between a mongoose and a cobra from his perch on the crown of the Palmyra (palm) tree. The mongoose ripped open the belly of the cobra and ate its vital organs. The cobra was seemingly dead. Then the mongoose went to a nearby bush, plucked some of its leaves, crushed them and applied the juice to the wound of the cobra. Instantly the cobra came alive and slithered away.

It was a great discovery for the toddy tapper. He came down from the tree, gathered some leaves of the plant and went home. He struck his wife with an axe and she died. He applied the juice of the leaves on the cut wound and she came alive. Then he told his wife to axe and kill him. As a Sati-Savitri, she obeyed him. But, in his euphoria of his great discovery, he forgot to tell her about the healing leaves. Thus, the toddy tapper died and with him lost the secret of the miraculously healing leaves.

Could they be Sanjeevani leaves and would a focus on South India, specially Western Ghat forests, known for their rich diversity of flora and fauna, help in the search to discover Sanjeevani?